China’s latest attempt to rally the world against Western values
Xi Jinping faults America for any clash of civilisations
Thirty years ago, in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, Samuel Huntington, an American scholar, offered a bleak view of how the world would change. He suggested that a “clash of civilisations” would replace the erstwhile cold-war conflict between West and East. As China’s struggle with America intensifies, President Xi Jinping has recently proposed a different view—that civilisations can live in harmony. It may sound tritely upbeat, but its underlying message is less so. The West must stop promoting its values, or Huntington will be proven right.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Xivilisation ”
From the April 29th 2023 edition
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